Monday, March 27, 2023
 
 

Mitsotakis lightning Bulgaria visit has regional focus

Although there are no urgent bilateral issues, the Greek Prime Minister was the first European leader to visit Bulgaria under the new government

- Advertisement -

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Sofia December 20, opening contacts with the new Bulgarian government through meetings with newly elected Bulgarian PM Kiril Petkov (sworn in only on December 13) and President Rumen Radev. Although it is not unusual for prime ministers of neighboring countries to organize rushed meetings, the lack of urgent bilateral issues raised eyebrows, since neither country would normally give such priority to making first contact with each other. Both PMs have attended Harvard, although at separate times, leaving some observers to joke about a secret Harvard alumni gathering in Sofia. Other analysts think discussions about regional issues were sufficiently urgent to justify this quick pre-Christmas meeting.

Energy

The most important bilateral issue concerns energy and that has an important regional dimension as well. Both leaders reportedly agreed to accelerate ongoing work on the Bulgaria-Greece Interconnector (IGB) which will connect Bulgaria’s gas network to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) in northern Greece enabling it to utilize natural gas from Azerbaijan, helping to break Russia’s current monopoly on gas supplies to Bulgaria. The leaders are said to have agreed to complete the project within several months, and energy discussions are also said to have focused on how the Alexandroupolis LNG terminal, coupled with the completed IGB, will give Bulgaria extra flexibility in importing LNG from third countries, further weakening the Russian monopoly.

Turkey

It is unclear why the leaders felt the need to squeeze a press conference into their program for this first trip, but that opened the way for Mitsotakis to push hard against Turkey in the presence of his Bulgarian counterpart. He said Turkey needed to end its “provocations in the Aegean and East Mediterranean….if it wants to normalize bilateral ties and relations with the European Union.” Having Petkov stand by that statement only reinforced the impact on Ankara, but it is unclear whether it actually registered on anybody that mattered.

Enlargement

After December’s Euro Summit failed to register any kind of progress on EU Enlargement, there is hope that things will begin to change as France takes over the EU presidency on January 1. PM Petkov has already said he wants to wrap up bilateral negotiations with North Macedonia over the longstanding language and cultural disputes in six months.
The combination of Petkov’s practical approach and signals of French interest in taking charge of, and credit for, the Enlargement process in the western Balkans has generated some hope that a path forward will be found during the French presidency in time for a major summit on Enlargement that Macron is said to be planning. In view of this, it is not impossible that Mitsotakis was carrying a message to Petkov from his close ally Macron regarding the need to resolve the dispute with North Macedonia soon, which may actually be easier now that Zoran Zaev has completed his dragged-out resignation process in Skopje. The official Greek statements in Sofia were not particularly different from what has been said before, e.g., that Greece favors a formal start of accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania as soon as possible, subject to those candidates continuing to meet membership criteria.

- Advertisement -

Subscribe to our newsletter

Co-founder and Executive Director for Global Economics and Southeast Europe at NE Global Media.  Former US diplomat with previous assignments in Eastern Europe, the UN, SE Asia, Greece, across the Balkans, as well as Washington DC.

Latest

Africa’s porous borders promote transnational crimes rather than deeper integration

For positive continental regimes to succeed, there must be both conscious and concerted efforts, as well as political will, from all states to help eliminate transnational crimes while fostering integration across the whole of Africa through trade.

Kazakhstan’s new parliament could usher in green energy, rare earth investments

Kazakhstan held internationally monitored elections for the Mazhilis, the...

EU-Turkey earthquake relief conference: Time to get serious

The European Union is hosting a reconstruction conference in...

Cambodia’s current government is the face of tropical Fascism

There is no hope that the authoritarianism that the world sees in places like Russia, China and Cambodia can ever be interpreted as a peaceful and benign phenomenon, or that it should be accepted by an implicit racist or discriminatory assumption that some cultures just don’t have a democratic tradition and aren’t quite capable of ever developing one.

Don't miss

Africa’s porous borders promote transnational crimes rather than deeper integration

For positive continental regimes to succeed, there must be both conscious and concerted efforts, as well as political will, from all states to help eliminate transnational crimes while fostering integration across the whole of Africa through trade.

Kazakhstan’s new parliament could usher in green energy, rare earth investments

Kazakhstan held internationally monitored elections for the Mazhilis, the...

EU-Turkey earthquake relief conference: Time to get serious

The European Union is hosting a reconstruction conference in...

Cambodia’s current government is the face of tropical Fascism

There is no hope that the authoritarianism that the world sees in places like Russia, China and Cambodia can ever be interpreted as a peaceful and benign phenomenon, or that it should be accepted by an implicit racist or discriminatory assumption that some cultures just don’t have a democratic tradition and aren’t quite capable of ever developing one.

Energy supply diversification out of Russia’s orbit is a top priority for Bulgaria

Bulgaria intends to diversify its energy resources, including supplying...

Kazakhstan’s new parliament could usher in green energy, rare earth investments

Kazakhstan held internationally monitored elections for the Mazhilis, the lower chamber of the Kazakh Parliament, on March 19, following major constitutional reforms, which most...

Energy supply diversification out of Russia’s orbit is a top priority for Bulgaria

Bulgaria intends to diversify its energy resources, including supplying the country’s main refinery in Burgas - the largest in the Balkans - with non-Russian...

Energy-strapped Germany sets ambitious 30 GW offshore wind target by 2030

Germany, which has been struggling to fill its massive energy gap following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and reduction of natural gas deliveries, is planning...

Sanctions, sanctions everywhere

On February 24, 2023, the US Government alongside G-7 leaders announced via a White House statement a new set of trade and economic measures...

Eclipsed by Ukraine concerns, Blinken visits Turkey and Greece

After attending the Munich Security Conference on February on 17-19, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken departed for a brief regional mission to Turkey...

Georgia, Romania mull Black Sea undersea power cable to supply CEE Europe

Georgia, which is a transit country for oil and gas routes, is spearheading efforts to launch a very ambitious project that would create a corridor for green energy from the Caspian to the Balkans and CEE.

Azerbaijan planning to launch green energy exports to Europe

Azerbaijan, which is already a main exporter of oil and gas, plans to develop its renewable energy potential, especially offshore wind in the Caspian...

US & Philippines agree to ramp up defense cooperation

The US and Philippines announced on February 2 a substantial expansion of their existing military cooperation arrangements, increasing the number of facilities that American...